I noticed the lack of harsh critisism on the US show and you never see any scores of 4's or 5's. The lowest I've seen someone get is a 7.

It thought Gethin was no worse than anyone out there. He looked nervous but I thought he was technically good and I think he's got serious potential which the judges failed to mention at all. It felt like the judges were trying to level the playing field. Talk Gethin down and talk Willie up which felt very biased. It's not up to them to brow beat the public into thinking their way, just give us informed opion and we'll make our own choices thank you very much!

I agree they were very harsh to Gethin, but I don't think they were 'talking Willie up'. I thought he did a beautiful Waltz. It wasn't perfect and his posture needs work as they said, but I think he deserved his credit based upon the performance he gave and not just because he's the oldest competitor.

While I agree that the scoring the US version is much higher than ours, I don't agree completely - look at, for example, Master P from season 2. Of his four performances (cha cha, quickstep, jive, paso doble), he got overall scores of 12, 16, 14 and 8.

An 8 is the same as the lowest score here, (Quentin Wilson for his cha cha) so while they are certainly a bit too free with the tens, handing them out like sweets, they do hand out low scores.

I felt sorry for the guys who went first, Matt & Dominic. They may have been good (I missed Matt's - thought it started at 6:45 doh!) but the judges could have been holding back scores in case another Mark situation occured. It didn't. Lovely though John appears to be, he certainly wasn't the best in my opinion.

I don't know why the judges felt compelled to launch into Gethin as they did. Sure there was little apparent connection between him & Camilla, but technically he did well. He seemed to be dancing in a "do the steps and get through it" kind of way as I'd expect anyone to do on their first venture out. A spot of Matt Dawson's acting coach might help.

I posted my thoughts about Gethin's unfair slating last night on the Gethin and Camilla thread. I came into this program not knowing who half the celbs were so had no bias. I thought Gethin had more content in his dance (well done camilla) and his posture was great. He also has charisma which showed up on the dance floor. While John has rythm his posture IMO was weak. He seemed to be leaning over alot from were I was sitting or maybe I was watching in a funny position. Was really shocked by the judges and thought CRH was particularly nasty and his comment at the end saying that Gethin was a beautiful (or something like that) looking man was very inappropriate for a dance comp.

now that I've decided to offer my support to Gethin am a bit worried as there seems to be more people replying to the other celebs threads.

Gethin describes his experience on Saturday night. Looks like he's taking a very positive attitude about it all, so that's good to know.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/strictlycomedan...08/49653.shtml

Thanks for tha La Rhumba.
Wonder were they heard that people thought he had been treated harshly?
From this forum?

Glad to see that Gethin more chance of winning than John according to betting odds.

I think Gethin will relax a bit now the first show is over, they've got two weeks to practise the next dance. I'm sure Camilla will work wonders with him. Look how far James Martin got? Who'd have thought it at the beginning.

I do think they were treated a bit harshly by the judges, in both comments and scoring. Shame, they looked disappointed.

When Gethin was dancing I was sat there thinking oh great the judges are going to rave about this performance. I couldn't believe it when the opposite happened. Do they do things like that on purpose to get the audience worked up I wonder???

Gethin was fairly decent but there wasn't enough fun, passion or attack to the moves. It was all very contained and in a cheeky dance like the cha cha that doesn't work.

I think Arlene was just miffed because she was looking forward to drooling over him and didn't feel able to after.

John was my favourite on the night. He had rhythm and embodied the spirit of the dance. That's why he and Dom can out on top of the leader board.

Fingers crossed for Gethin. I reckon he has the ability to improve and become much more confident.

I enjoyed Gethins performance, and he seemed to do so as well and was smiling all the way through, and the smiling was infectious!

I think as a kids tv presenter, he is probably cautious over the intimacy/ sexiness, He has an image to maintain. Just hope it doesnt cost him the contest

Gethin was slated because he was very poor. He had no rhythm, and thats something you can't teach. He's young, slim and you just expected him to be good, but he wasn't. I think only his looks will keep him in - by getting the female vote. I think John Barnes, even 3 times the weight of Gethin, had quite a bit more rhythm. I think the comments were justified, and I'm glad its down to the judges.

Am I way off here - but do the judges like Camilla? - she and her partner always seem to get a hard time even if they are on a par with others who don't get such harsh comments. I think she's great and really like her choreography!

Quirky shazzer (great name!) - I often think they are hard on her as well. But I'm not sure how much it is some inate bias the judges have against Camilla (which it could be) and how much it's Camilla's choreography. I like her dances as well but I think some pros are better at 'showing off' what their contestants can do. I feel mad writing about this, when I'm not a dancer and I know lots of people here are, but my layperson's impression is that Camilla goes for something that really pushes them and if it works will look great while some of the others, eg Erin, protect their contestant a bit more. Just my feeling.

I have watched Saturday's show 5 times now and I cannot see why Barnes is being praised so highly. I couldn't see any hip movement at all, he didn't seem to do any solo steps in fact he seemed to be lumbering about a bit. He was enjoying himself, that's true, I can't say that I was.

My O/H who bears with me when I watch, said, 'I don't know anything about dancing but that was horrible'...

I wouldn't go as far as that, but I really thought that the other cha cha chas were much livelier.

After 5 viewings of the show I am still dazed and confused. Barnes came top overall and how one could judge it better that Willie Thorn's lovely waltz, I just can't work it out....

I just felt that, given that it was the first week and there were lots of nerves and expectations, Barnes was just not the best dancer.....

I am confused......

I have watched the show twice and am also baffled by the harsh criticism of Gethin, especially from Bruno. Gethin was every bit as good as John or Dominic.
Lets hope it just spurs him on to do great things.

I agree with you there, Paace..poor Gethin looked terrified, perhaps, as has been mentioned here earlier, because he is a Blue Peter presenter, he feels constrained in his behaviour....It could be quite shocking for some viewers to see him getting jiggy, so to speak....I really hope that he can overcome this and go on to give us some convincing rumbas, sambas, etc.

harsh, harsh words from the judges, though...especially Craig, who I thought, was a bit insulting.

Courtesy of maltipom Gethin & Camilla's appearance on ITT today:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKxD9vCUqjM

Interesting to hear Camilla say that although he danced well, "he needs to improve his performance". They both praised Dominic for a joyful display. I personally still think that Gethin did well, and the criticisms were way over the top, and agree with comments by posters in this thread that because he is young fit and active, they were all just expecting too much for a first performance, and Arlene was looking forward to drooling over him [as was CRH] but he didn't have the Ramps' hips - no, well he's Gethin, not Ramps! They should give everyone a fair go, especially on the first night, and it's sad to hear him say that he was crushed after 4 week's work to just get negative comments.

The Judge's seriously affected last year's show, I hope they don't do the same this year.

This was the first show, dancing the cha cha, and I think that Gethin did a good job. We had an exceptional first show performance from from Mark last year, so there is a lot to live up to. Gethin needs to polish up the performance side, and I'm sure that Camilla will do what it takes on that side of things.